[media-credit name=”Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post” align=”aligncenter” width=”495″][/media-credit]

Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx challenged his sister, DeOndra Dixon, to a dance-off at the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Jet Set Fashion Show.

Stars continue to shine on the Global Down Syndrome’s million-dollar baby, the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Jet Set Fashion Show. Quincy Jones and Jamie Foxx made their second appearance at the gala that had its start in a Broomfield airplane hangar and has since exploded into an event that commands international attention.

For those who ask “How did that happen?,” the answer is simple. Cherry Hills Village residents John Sie, founder of what is now Starz Entertainment, and his wife, Anna, have a granddaughter with Down syndrome, Sophia Whitten. From the moment she was born, they vowed to make sure that Sophia, and the estimated 6 million others who have Down syndrome, are treated with dignity and respect as they work, play and achieve without people telling them “You can’t do this” or “You shouldn’t do that.”

Sophia’s mother, Michelle Sie Whitten, shares her parents’ passion and is executive director of the nonprofit organization that John and Anna Sie started, Global Down Syndrome Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to “Significantly improv(e) the lives of people with Down syndrome through research, medical care, education and advocacy.” The money it raises — like the $1 million net from Saturday night’s Be Beautiful Be Yourself Jet Set Fashion Show — goes to the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and its medical care arm, the Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome.
Located on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, the institute is the first organization to be founded with the goal of eradicating the medical and cognitive ill effects associated with Down syndrome. Its director, Dr. Ed McCabe, predicts that will happen soon; 2017 is the target year.

Former All Pro wide receiver Ed McCaffrey of the Denver Broncos returns to the gridiron this month to coach a group of children and young adults with Down syndrome who are participating in a football camp held at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch.

The two-day event (June 25 and 26) is the first of its kind in Colorado and will feature McCaffrey and other celebrity coaches teaching campers the basics of football in a fun environment. Each participant will be paired with a high school football player for instruction in core football skills. A host of former and current college and professional athletes will be on hand to provide additional expertise, guidance and support leading up to an actual game on June 26.

In keeping with football tradition, there will be a tailgate party before the game, with inflatable games, food provided by local vendors and a pep rally lead by a surprise celebrity guest. The tailgate party begins at 10:30 a.m. and the game starts an hour later. Both are free and open to the public.

Patricia C. Winders, senior physical therapist and Down syndrome specialist at the Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome, will be on hand to ensure the maximum safety and enjoyment for the campers.

“We are so pleased and grateful to be able to work with Ed on this camp,” Winders said. “It is a great complement to our ‘Dare to Dance’ collaboration with the Colorado Ballet. By providing a safe and accepting environment for our children with Down syndrome we hope to attract children who essentially had never dared to play before.”

Starz Entertainment plans to create segments that will air on Encore WAM to a potential 31.5 million-subscriber audience nationwide.

“We are proud to highlight positive initiatives focused on youth in the community by presenting this on Encore WAM,” said Ellen Mednick, executive director, creative services, for Starz Entertainment. “Ed McCaffrey’s support of children with Down syndrome is truly exceptional.”

The idea for the camp came from the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, in conjunction with Pat Winders and Ed McCaffrey. Funding for the camp will be provided by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, whose executive director is Michelle Sie Whitten.

“I am deeply committed to the work of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation,” McCaffrey said. “I want to make a positive difference, not only for children with Down syndrome, but for the typical high school football players who may not know the value of having a friend who is differently-abled. Diversity and giving kids a chance to reach their potential is what these camps are all about.”

No game experience is complete without cheerleaders, and the Rocky Mountain RockStarz, an elite group of former professional cheerleaders, will offer a simultaneous cheerleading camp for children with Down syndrome. They will perform during halftime on game day.

Camp sponsors include the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Valor Christian High School, Colorado Capital Bank and Anton Law Group.

Michelle Sie Whitten and daughter Sophia Whitten take their turn on the Saks Fifth Avenue runway. Photo by Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post

Four years ago, Dr. Elaine Scholes, a pediatrician at Denver Health, thought it was pretty neat that she was able to get 60 people to gather at Saks Fifth Avenue Cherry Creek for the first Key To The Cure mother-daughter fashion show.
Everyone had a blast.
So much so that in Year 2, attendance doubled and the format changed from an evening cocktail party to sit-down lunch in the store’s second-floor designer department. It, too, was a whole lot of fun.
By the time Year 3 rolled around, there was hardly enough room to comfortably accommodate everyone who wanted to be there.
So in Year 4 the benefit for women being treated for cancer at Denver Health Medical Center reverted to its evening cocktail party status — with a few very cool upgrades.
A record crowd of 400, including Scholes, basically had free run of the store for about three hours, giving them ample time to eat, drink, shop and enjoy a mother-daughter fashion show emceed by Denise Plante, a KOSI radio personality and co-host of Channel 9’s Colorado & Co.
Junior League sustainers Melly Kinnard and Debra Pain chaired the event and were happy to report that revenue was up 80 percent from last year. Ask them tomorrow, though, and the percentage may well be higher. “Every day that I ask, I’m told that more money has come in,” Kinnard says.
Catering By Design did the food, setting up buffet stations that included dim sum, salads and dessert. Berry limeade and Italian sodas — served with or without a shot of vodka or rum — helped keep everyone hydrated, as did a selection of Balistreri wines. DJ Extraordinaire spun the tunes on the main floor, where guests could take a break on the white leather couches and chairs set up in the Key Private Bank Lounge.
DJ Select handled the music action upstairs as guests perused “Cup Half Full: Life in the Face of Breast Cancer,” an exhibit by photographer Katy Tartakoff.
Denver Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups was there to see his wife, Piper, model in the show with daughters Cydney, Ciara and Cenaiya, but spent time pre-show visiting with friends and fans.
Realtor Rollie Jordan put a bug in his ear about one of her big listings, an $18 million compound in Evergreen that had been home to pitcher Mike Hampton when he was with the Colorado Rockies. Jordan wasn’t just there to sell real estate, though: She’d come to see her son Rhett’s girlfriend, Rayna Bryant, model in show.
Rayna was one of the professional mannequins on the ramp; in addition to the Billupses, the celebrity contingent was made up of former CBS4 anchor Aimee Sporer Caplis and Caroline Caplis; Marilyn, Christi and Ashley Coors; vocalist Mary Louise Lee-Hancock (her husband is Denver City Councilman Michael Hancock) and daughter Janae Hancock; 7News anchor Bertha Lynn and daughter Maria Naves; and Down syndrome activist Michelle Sie Whitten and daughter Sophia Whitten.
Debra Pain modeled with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Lisa and Katelyn Kelin, while Melly Kinnard took a turn on the ramp with daughter Kerry Kinnard, founder and executive director of Dedicated to Diabetes.
Key Private Bank was the presenting sponsor, and vice president Kim Smith was there with several of her colleagues. Event partners included Taryn Edwards, 5280 magazine and Colorado Technical University.
Others enjoying the food and fellowship were Lisa Alexander, whose husband, Bruce, chairs the Denver Health and Hospital Authority board; David McReynolds, head of the Denver Health Foundation board; Bertha Lynn’s husband, Judge Larry Naves, and her mother, Maria Lynn; retired dentist Julika Ambrose; Gale Norton; Julie Balistreri; Sheilagh Malo; Caz Matthews; Elbra Wedgeworth; Kathy Klugman; Judith Ann Newman; Shery McDonald-Galbreath; Estelle Klubock and daughter Ann Jill Drucker; Carlotta LaNier; Jamie Angelich; Layne Hunt; Gayle Novak; Danielle Washington LaCabe; Susan Mostow; Sue McFarlane; Pegie Frazier; Gary and Mary Margaret Wright; Nancy Stamper; Linda Goto; Margaret Stavros; Pat Cortez; Robyn Loup; Diane Mager; Jenny Scholes Pruett; and Paula Herzmark, executive director of the Denver Health Foundation.
Denver Health, she noted, provided $318 million in uncompensated care last year, a figure that is expected to top $360 million in 2009. The money raised at Key To The Cure is earmarked for the care received by female cancer patients who are unable to pay.

Just as the love that Linda and Jimmy Yip have for their son will never die, neither will the affection shared by so many of the late Nathan Yip’s friends, classmates and relatives. That fact is evidenced every year at the dinner supporting the foundation established in his memory.
Nathan, who was an only child, perished in 2001 following an automobile accident. He was just 19 years old and home on Christmas break from Lehigh University, where he was a freshman. Read more…

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.